XBMC arrives on Android

XBMC, or Xbox Media Center, may have started its days on the original Xbox, but it has come a long way since then, as in now about as multi-platform as it gets. Mobile devices have had XBMC remote control apps for a while, but unlike the related Plex media system, no full client has been available – until now.

Right now, the status of XBMC on Android is something of a pre-alpha, requiring you to compile the code yourself or find a .apk from someone who has. It’s designed as a straight up Android app, and should run on pretty much any Android device. What’s missing mostly comes down to two things: UI, and performance. The UI is designed for TVs after all, so right now you’d be best off using this on a device connected to a large screen, like in the video above from YouTube user ALWAYZBLESS. It’s not that usable on small screens, even tablets, at least not right now. The app also lacks hardware decoding of video, which basically means that it’s far from being able to play what more established Android video players can.

Bottom line, right now it’s a very early version meant as a starting point for further development. What’s important though is that it is coming as a full app release in the future, and considering how popular XBMC is, that’s reason enough to celebrate for a lot of people. If you want to try it for yourself, the Android Police link below has a download link for a compiled app.

About the Author

Andreas Ødegård was an associate editor at Pocketables. He's more interested in aftermarket (and user created) software and hardware than chasing the latest gadgets and tends to stick with his choice of device for a long time as a result of that. Currently that includes an iPad mini and a Samsung Galaxy S II.

Bryan Faulkner

I run XBMC on my original Xbox at home and love it. I can’t wait to see how this app fares once it is out of alpha status.